The Little Castro in LA

I got called in to play Driver #1 for the show called "Women's Murder Club." It was a location shoot in downtown LA. The scene was supposed to take place in the Castro district of San Francisco. Sadly neither the actors nor the street scenery looked anything like the real Castro scene. In fact there were all these writers guild protesters chanting "I'm from the bay, this ain't gay."

Malibu Fire

It's been surreal to see all those buildings and hills in Malibu that I drive by every weekend going up in flame on TV. The shop I work in Malibu's okay, but the surrounding area's charred pretty bad. It seems like San Diego has it much worse. And they say it's just the beginning of the season...

botox

I was on the set of a commercial shoot today and I began talking to my fictional female companion. We had some time to kill while the crew was setting up the camera. We started talking Hollywood gossip and the issue of facelift/botox came up. She not only knew all about who had work done in Hollywood, but also spoke about botox as if she were an expert. After a bit of denial, she confessed that she's been getting botox, filler and some other treatments for six years. I have to say, her doctor did a good job. Her face wasn't so obviously fixed like the faces of some other aging actresses with OCD. By the end of the shoot, she convinced another actress on the set to try out her doctor. Hollywood: We are creating a wrinkle-free society one injection at a time. I am starting to love this town for what it is.

Short actors

I was on the set of Criminal Minds as a background actor. I got to wear a gun, badge and ill-fitting suit...usual law enforcement outfit. I recognized the main actors but couldn't name them. Anyway it still surprises me to see how short these actors are when you see them in person. They are not just a little shorter than you think, they are tiny. I'd look like a giant on TV.

House M.D.

House M.D. is on tonight. I discovered this show two weeks ago while I was suffering from back pain and now I'm totally hooked. I don't watch much TV, but this show...brilliant! I've been catching up on season 1 and 2 non-stop. Hugh Laurie is my new acting idol. I must find out how to get on this show. I haven't been so hooked on a TV show since Twin Peaks!

celeb game

Apologies for not keeping up with my blog page. Now that my back pain is subsiding, I'm able to sit and type. I've encountered a few celebs this past week. First, Jason Priestley: I completley ignored him on the set of some lame Lifetime Channel show. Natasha Henstridge: She's still hot. I've never seen her onscreen, now I actually want to rent her DVDs. Jimmy Smits: His new show Cane is going to be canceled in two weeks. Horrible writing and who cares anymore about Jimmy Smits? Jessica Alba: She brought an army of paparazzi to Malibu. She has a new movie out, so no surprise there. Britney Spears was dining acrossed the street. More paparazzi. Baron Davis: He came up to me and shook my hand and introduced himself to me. Since this is L.A. nobody around me recognized him, but being a GS Warriors fan from SF, I was actually thrilled to see him.

Manpri

Howie Mandel came into the store today and bought a pair of sunglasses. He was wearing a pair of designer manpri jeans and awful looking custom low top converse shoes. Yes, I'm seeing some men wearing hideous looking manpri pants around Malibu and apparently it's no longer the Eurotrash-only fashion. Great.